A sly smile widened the old man’s lips. “I’ll help you on one condition. I’ll turn him back if you promise to set me free. Otherwise he’ll stay a frog for the rest of his life and you’ll never—”
“The only bargain you’ll get is one with us,” said Frostybreath, who had come in from outside and pushed his way to the front of the crowd. “You turn the baby back into a human, and we won’t rip you limb from limb this very minute! We don’t have any patience for you, old man, so you have five seconds to decide. One!” All the dragons in the crowd smiled, showing their fangs. “Two!” The dragons tapped their talons on the floor. “Three!” The dragons began to growl softly. “Four!” The sound of growling swelled. “Fi—”
“All right, I’ll do it!” Olebald screamed.
His hands were shaking when he reached into his robes and pulled out an intricately carved gold ring. When he slipped the ring on his finger, Frostybreath leaned close and whispered, “You try any tricks and I’ll rip your head off where you stand.”
When the dragon placed his talons on the old man’s throat, Olebald gasped and said, “I won’t! I promise!”
Frostybreath snorted. “As if your promises are worth anything! Go ahead—say your spell, but be careful!”
Emma dipped her hand into the bowl. She took out the squirming tadpole and some of the water, being careful to keep her hand cupped so that the water didn’t leak through her fingers. Millie noticed that the tadpole had grown little buds that would turn into legs if he remained a frog.
Olebald opened his mouth to speak. He paused and a frown wrinkled his brow. “You’ve got me so rattled I can’t remember what I said before!” he blurted.
“Try hard,” Emma said, her voice cold.
“I’m not very good at making up spells,” whined Olebald.
“Just do it!” Frostybreath growled.
“I’ll … I’ll try!” Olebald whimpered. “Let me see now. Oh yes, this should work.”
Turn this frog back into
The baby that he used to be.
“That’s it?” Millie said when nothing happened. “I could do better than that, and I don’t even have that kind of magic.”
“Try again, wizard,” said Emma. “And he’s a tadpole, not a frog.”
“All right! I will!” Olebald squeaked as Frostybreath gave him a light cuff.
This baby is a tadpole
But he was born a human.
Change him into what he was,
A human, not a tadpole.
“That was worse than the first one!” said Millie.
“But it worked,” said Emma as the air around the tadpole started to sparkle. When the little creature began to stretch and grow, there was a loud gasp as everyone held their breath. The little face widened, the eyes grew bigger, his mottled skin turned pink, the leg buds grew into human baby legs and feet, and his arms and hands sprouted. Suddenly he was Felix again, pink cheeked with red gold curls and blue eyes filled with wonder.
“Oh, my little darling!” said Emma, holding him so tightly in her arms that he began to squirm and whimper.
“Now you’re coming with us,” said Frostybreath as his talons closed around Olebald’s shoulders.
“I’d take that ring from him first if I were you,” Emma told the dragon. “I’m sure that’s what gave him the power to change Felix and take over the castle.”
Frostybreath grunted. “I was just thinking that. Give me the ring, old man.”
“But I … ,” Olebald began. Then the dragon squeezed just a little harder, and the wizard hurriedly removed the ring and held it up for Frostybreath to take.
“You keep it,” the dragon told Emma. “If we have it at the stronghold, he’ll try to get out of his cell and find it. Get some rope, boys!” he shouted at the other dragons. “We’re tying him up and going home. I’m sorry I can’t stay for the wedding,” he said, turning back to Millie, “but the king put me in charge of Olebald. You and Audun should come visit me when you can.”
“We will,” Millie said and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
The big dragon looked flustered from the kiss as he turned away, and his voice sounded gruffer than usual when he directed his men in tying up Olebald. The dragons marched the old wizard out of the Great Hall just as Audun and Eadric came in.
“I heard you found Olebald,” said Eadric as he watched him disappear down the corridor. “What about—Ah, there’s my boy!”
The baby cooed when his father took him in his arms, then grabbed a hunk of Eadric’s hair in his fist and yanked.
“Ow!” Eadric exclaimed. “It looks as if he’s none the worse for his experience.”
“He’s fine,” said Emma. “I’m going to take him up to the nursery now. Grassina is handling the preparations for the wedding. Do you see her anywhere? Ah, there she is! Millie, go talk to your great-aunt. I’ll be back down as soon as I can.”
“Can you smell that?” Eadric asked, inhaling deeply as he accompanied Emma and Felix from the Hall. “They’ve started baking for the wedding. I wonder if they have anything ready yet. Perhaps we should go see.”
Seventeen
Millie was crossing the Hall on her way to her great-aunt when Audun matched his steps to hers.
“Believe it or not,” Millie told Audun, “our wedding almost seems like a minor event after all that’s happened today. I’m almost too tired to get excited about it.”
They stepped aside as a group of servants carrying benches from the Great Hall walked in front of them. Other servants staggered under the weight of tables until some soldiers went to help them.
“Wait until you see what they’ve done to the courtyard,” said Audun. “I think it looks great.”
“Why are they decorating the courtyard?” asked Millie as Grassina left a group of courtiers and linked arms with her.
“Because the weather is perfect and there isn’t room for everyone in the Great Hall,” Grassina said. “Come outside, you two, and I’ll tell you what I’ve planned.”
Millie didn’t realize how late it had gotten and was surprised to see that it was already growing dark out. The courtyard bustled with activity as fairies strung flower garlands and twinkling firefly lights between the buildings. Servants were filling bowls with even more flowers. Ralf’s parents were lighting torches and King Gargle Snort of the fire dragons was already sampling fairy-made dandelion and herb wines with King Stormclaw of the ice dragons. Li’l and her children were helping the ladies of the court hang decorations from the parapets, while Garrid, Li’l’s mate, helped Ralf drape banners down the sides of the towers.
“This is wonderful,” said Millie, “but where are my grandparents?”
Grassina sighed. “Queen Frazzela is waiting in your grandmother Chartreuse’s chamber until the ceremony begins. Eadric’s mother refuses to go anywhere near a dragon, which is making things a bit difficult, I’m afraid. Your two grandfathers are directing the search for any magical traps or devices that Olebald might have set in the castle, which means that Francis and Haywood, who went with them, are really doing all the work while the two kings debate the best way to trap werewolves.”
“And what is Bradston doing?” asked Millie. She had spotted her young uncle near the fairies, but he didn’t seem to be doing anything.
“Ogling fairies,” said Grassina. “Although he told me that he didn’t trust them and would keep an eye on them for us.”
Millie laughed. “That’s Bradston, all right.”
“It sounds as if you have everything well in hand,” said Audun.
Grassina smiled and looked around with a sigh. “I believe I do, except for one thing: you. Clean clothes are waiting for you on your beds, so it’s time for you to go change. Hurry now. I hear the musicians tuning up.”
Millie felt more lighthearted than she had in weeks as she and Audun ran up the stairs to change. They parted at the top and Millie hurried to her chamber to see what Grassina had selected for her to wear. She had planned to
get a new gown made for her wedding, but as she’d thought she’d have plenty of time, the gown had never been started. Throwing open her door, Millie ran to her bed and stopped. It was her grandmother Chartreuse’s gown. Millie had seen it once when she was young, but her grandmother had told her that she wasn’t allowed to touch it. Although her grandmother rarely showed affection, Millie knew that letting her wear the gown was a gesture of true love.
Millie reached out to stroke the gown with tentative fingers when one of her grandmother’s ladies-in-waiting came to help her dress. The woman did her hair as well, and when Millie descended the stairs in the creamy white dress edged in pearls and decorated with pearl-outlined blossoms across the bodice, she looked and felt every inch a princess.
She had reached the corridor on the first floor when fairies arrived, bringing carefully selected flowers. It took only moments for them to weave the flowers into Millie’s hair, then each one gave her a kiss on the cheek for good luck. The fairies left, and Garrid was there with his daughter, Zoë. They had brought her a necklace made of stones the exact shade of green as Millie’s dragon scales. Millie bent down as her friend fastened the necklace around her throat. When she straightened up, both Zoë and Garrid gave her kisses on her cheek.
“For good luck?” Millie asked, her eyes shining.
“No, because we love you,” said Zoë. “See you after the ceremony. I want to hear all about everything!”
Audun met Millie at the door leading into the courtyard. He looked so handsome in his clothes of silver and blue that her breath caught in her throat and she found she couldn’t speak.
“You look beautiful,” he said, raising her hand to his lips.
Millie smiled and suddenly her voice was back. “For someone who didn’t know anything about kissing when we met, you’ve gotten very good at it.”
“There’s a reason for that,” he said and kissed her full on the lips.
“Ahem,” said her father. “I hate to interrupt, but isn’t the kiss supposed to come after the ceremony? We have a courtyard full of people waiting for you two, so why don’t we get started?” Taking her arm in his, he nodded to Audun and escorted Millie down the stairs.
Millie had expected to see the local pastor there to officiate, but she hadn’t expected to see King Stormclaw waiting for her as well. It made sense, though, when she thought about it; Audun had told her that the king presided over all ice dragon weddings. She noticed that the pastor looked pale and cringed every time King Stormclaw glanced his way, but the king seemed to be enjoying himself.
Eadric walked Millie to a spot halfway between the pastor and King Stormclaw, and a moment later Audun was by her side. Although it wasn’t part of the ceremony, he took her hand in his and squeezed. A warm feeling flooded through Millie; it occurred to her that she was very fortunate indeed to have met someone who could share both worlds with her and could understand her better than anyone else.
Lost in thoughts of Audun, Millie paid little attention to the ceremony itself. She spoke when prompted and assumed that everyone else said the right thing. But when the pastor and the king pronounced them husband and wife, and it was time to kiss Audun, Millie smiled.
After a kiss that lasted so long the guests began to fidget, Millie and Audun turned around, pausing to wave to everyone. The humans cheered and stomped their feet while the dragons roared so loudly that their breath knocked fairies from their perches on the flower garlands. The sound would have been deafening if the ceremony had been held indoors.
Millie and Audun looked out over the crowd seeing the smiling faces of their friends and family. It took a minute for Millie to realize that one face was missing; Queen Frazzela, her grandmother, wasn’t there.
“I don’t think my grandmother came to the ceremony,” she told Audun. “I don’t see her anywhere.”
“That’s odd. I don’t see mine, either. I wonder where they are.”
Millie frowned. “I thought my grandmother might leave early, but I never thought she’d skip the ceremony altogether! I can’t believe she did that!”
“I don’t think she left. See, there are the witches who brought her.” Audun nodded his head toward a group that included Klorine and Ratinki.
“And your grandfather is still here, so your grandmother must be, too,” Millie said as she peered into the crowd. “I know they’re biased against each other’s kind, but I can’t believe our grandmothers would fly all the way here and then not watch us get married.”
“You don’t suppose they ran into each other, do you?” asked Audun. “I’d hate to see what would happen if the two of them were left alone together.”
“I’m sure they’re fine,” Millie said, although even she didn’t think she sounded convincing.
The crowd thinned out as servants set food on the tables. When the guests started to sit down, Millie was pleased to see that the groups were mixed with humans sitting with fairies and dragons. She knew she should go from table to table, talking to her guests, but it didn’t feel right that the grandmothers weren’t there.
“I think we should go look for Frazzela and Song of the Glacier,” she said, turning to Audun. “Frazzela may hate dragons, but she loves fairies and there are more than I can count here tonight. And I have this feeling …”
“I think you’re right. Song of the Glacier wouldn’t miss this unless something really important came up, but the king is here and so are the rest of his councilors.”
Thinking that they could see better from the top of the stairs, Millie and Audun crossed the courtyard and started up the steps. “Millie, where are you going?” called Emma as she and Eadric hurried to meet them. “You should be out here talking to people.”
“We haven’t been able to find Grandmother Frazzela or Audun’s grandmother Song of the Glacier. Have you seen either of them?”
Eadric had his mouth open to reply when they heard a muffled roar from inside the castle. “That sounded like my grandmother,” said Audun, and they all turned to run up the stairs.
A human voice shouted, frantic and scared. As soon as they entered the corridor, a wind began dragging them toward Emma and Eadric’s tower, growing louder with each step they took. They found the door to the tower standing open, and when they looked inside they saw the top half of Frazzela on the circular stairs with Song of the Glacier bending over her.
“Grandmother!” Audun shouted over the roar of the wind. “What are you doing? Leave that woman alone!”
“Don’t be an idiot, boy!” Frazzela screamed. “Your grandmother is holding me up. If she lets me go I’ll be sucked into this blasted hole. Help me, you fools! This poor dragoness can’t hold me forever!”
Millie grabbed the door frame to keep from being dragged into the hole and tried to get a better look. Her grandmother was hanging on to the edge of a hole with her legs dangling below her. The wind was blowing around Frazzela, pulling loose items past her into the gap and creating an unearthly wail. Song of the Glacier stood with her back braced against the stairwell, straining to hold on to the old woman.
“What on earth— Mother, what happened to you?” Eadric shouted.
“I stepped on your stairs, that’s what happened to me,” the queen shouted back, sounding cross. “The step collapsed under me and I can’t get out. Don’t just stand there, help me!”
“And be quick about it!” shouted Song of the Glacier. “I can’t hold her much longer.”
The wind was growing stronger. Herbs that had been strewn on the floor in the Great Hall whipped past, stinging Millie’s cheek when she turned her head to look.
“Olebald must have set a trap here!” Eadric shouted as he and Emma came to stand beside the hole with their arms wrapped around each other. “Audun, you lift Frazzela from that side and I’ll lift from this one!” yelled Eadric. “You’ll have to hold on to us, ladies, or we’ll fall in, too. On the count of three. One … Two … Three!”
The veins stood out in Eadric’s forehead as he strained to li
ft his mother, while Audun’s face turned crimson. But no matter how hard they tried, they weren’t able to get Frazzela out of the hole. Millie was afraid they were going to hurt themselves, and was relieved when they let go and stepped back.
“It’s no use. We’ll have to try something else!” Eadric shouted.
“Hurry up!” cried Frazzela. “I’m losing the feeling in my legs.”
“Humans aren’t strong enough to lift them out, but dragons might be!” yelled Millie.
Emma nodded. “Three should be enough.”
It was the first time Emma had changed into a dragon in front of her mother-in-law, and the first time Millie had done it voluntarily, but Frazzela seemed more afraid of the hole than she was of any dragon. “Hurry!” was all she said as Millie reached under her arms.
The wind still felt strong, but not nearly as strong as it had when they were humans. Three dragons were able to lift the old woman out of the hole easily. When Frazzela was free, Song of the Glacier staggered back from the edge and sat down. “I must be getting old,” said the dragoness. “When I was younger I could have lifted her out by myself.”
“Not with that wind, Grandmother,” said Audun. “You saw that it took the three of us just now.”
“Thank you so much, Song,” said Frazzela. “I would have died if it hadn’t been for you.”
“You’re welcome, Frazzie. I’m glad I could help.”
Millie’s mouth dropped open and she glanced at Audun, who looked equally stunned.
“Take them out of here while I close this hole,” Emma told Millie and Audun.
“But the wind … ,” Millie began.
“The wind won’t bother me as long as I’m a dragon. If I have to change back, your father will keep me from falling in. Now go! We’re wasting time.”